Summer Glau has just been announced as a guest for PARADISE CITY COMIC CON on December 9, 10, & 11 at The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center

Summer Glau is best known for for her iconic roles as River Tam in Joss Whedon’s TV series Firefly and the feature film, Serenity and Cameron Philips in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She has recently had a featured role on The CW’s Arrow as Isabel (Ravager). Use PROMO CODE: “SPIKE” to save $10 OFF Three Day Weekend Passes and PROMO CODE: “RIVER” to save $5 OFF single day and 2 Day Tickets! These promo codes are valid until Monday Oct. 31 @ 11:59pm. Over 100 celebrity guests, voice actors, comic book creators, entertainment guests, and cosplay stars will be in attendance.

Summer Glau got her start in Joss Whedon’s much acclaimed TV series Angel playing a cursed Prima Ballerina in the 2002 episode “Waiting in the wings”. Contributing to her Sci Fi credits were roles in USA’s The 4400 as Tess, Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse as Echo’s long lost nemesis, Bennet Halverson, NBC’s The Cape as Orwell, an investigative blogger who teams up with Vince/The Cape in order to fight crime and restore justice, and guest appearances on Alphas as Skylar. Summer has also starred in the the films Deadly Honeymoon, and The Legend of Hells Gate: An America Conspiracy. She has made guest appearances on TV in The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Hawaii 5-0, and NTSF:SD:SUV.

Paradise City Comic Con is 3 days of fun featuring celebrity guests, comic book creators, voice actors, industry guests, cosplayers, artists, writers, panels, Q&A’s, films & shorts, costume & cosplay contests, vendors, parties, anime, workshops, video gaming and more! There will be multiple costume and cosplay events each day of the show, with thousands of dollars in cash and prizes on the line!

Construction at The Miami Beach Convention Center and the surrounding area will be in high gear next year and would have prevented us from putting on the quality of show that you deserve.
Fort Lauderdale is welcoming us with wide open arms. They have a gorgeous facility with room to accommodate all of the attendees from Supercon 2016. We will sell out again like we did this year, but there’s room for all returning fans who buy tickets in advance.

We will be taking over the entire Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center on all 3 floors! It is approx. 29 miles from the Miami Beach Convention Center, and will be closer for some, and further away for others. We hope that the quality of convention that we put on will bring everyone back in 2017.

**Please note that Fort Lauderdale has removed the security checkpoint from Eisenhower Blvd so that attendees can drive up to the parking garage and Convention Center from the 17th Street entrance without stopping to show ID.**

There are thousands of parking spots on site, and we will run shuttles between the official hotels and parking garages in the area.
This will be our best year yet!

I know many of you are asking: who in the name of J. Jonah Jameson’s sideburns is John Stover? In fact, you have met him before. He introduced me to DragonCon in 2011. In 2014, he was my boon companion in Mouse-town for Spooky Empire. In 2015, we took a break from Florida to stay a few miles from the oldest Baptist church in America (founded in 1638) for Rhode Island Comic Con. This year, over the July 4 weekend, we were back in the Sunshine State for another convention new to me: Florida Supercon

John and I have been tight since eleventh grade, when he transferred to my high school midyear, walked into my Spanish class, and took the only available seat—next to me. Twenty-eight years later, we have seen each other through four divorces (two each), five weddings (I lead 3-2), a knot of children (my 2 step, his 3 bio), the near death of his first son, new jobs, new homes, graduate degrees, and a Playboy bunny ex-girlfriend (his, wouldn’t you know). Spooky Empire and Rhode Island were new to me, and I’m glad I could experience them with John.

Held in Miami, Supercon is the largest comic book, anime, cosplay, sci-fi, fantasy, video gaming & pop culture convention in South Florida, according to Instagram. Over 51,000 people attended in 2015, and it seemed this year’s total would surpass that. Four-day passes had sold out weeks before, and Saturday-only passes were gone by Friday afternoon. Unlike smaller conventions, which tend to be held in hotels, this one was at the Miami Beach Convention Center. I am biased toward hotels for their intimacy (Michaela McPherson discusses this in her Anime Fan Fest article), but except for DragonCon, which is unique, shows of 50,000+ people need the vastness of a convention center.

They need this vastness for, among other things, effective line operation. There were some major celebrities at this convention: William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Ben McKenzie, and some members of the Deadpool cast. Lines were long, but they never felt crowded or unruly. (For line management, it doesn’t get much worse than the George R.R. Martin debacle at ConCarolinas 2014.) I don’t mind the waiting part of being in line. You learn a lot by talking to other attendees. One couple talked about how accessible the mega-celebrities are at San Diego Comic-Con. The year they went, they were waiting to get into a panel when Ian McKellan showed up and started mingling. Another guy said he waited in Stan Lee’s signing line at Mega Con for five hours. Why? Stan was a no-show for the morning session—his M.O., according to the guy.

And sometimes cool things happen in line. Henry Winkler stood in front of his signing table, and he occasionally walked to the end of the line, shaking hands and thanking people for their patience. (Of course, if he didn’t take these breaks, there wouldn’t be such a need for patience.) Once, he stopped to perform a magic trick for a group of kids. John and I went to Henry’s Q&A, which was held in an honest-to-goodness theater next to the convention center. From the moment Henry stepped on stage, he owned it. I had read before that Henry was dyslexic, but I didn’t realize how problematic that was for him. He said that, academically, he was in the bottom 3% of the United States. He can’t spell and isn’t good at math. In high school, he took geometry four times, finally passing with a D.

But he had wanted to act since he was seven years old, and he found a way to do it. How? Tenacity and gratitude: “two words I live by.” Both traits power his lifelong advocacy for literacy and education. “If you have trouble in school,” he said, “it has nothing to do with how smart you are”—good advice from a man who overcame his obstacles. He has a new show coming out on August 23 called Better Late Than Never. He lauded the cast and writing of Arrested Development, and of course, he talked about being the Fonz, whom he based on Sylvester Stallone’s character from Lords of Flatbush. “One of the things I brought to the Fonz,” he said, “was loyalty to my friends,” which was why Fonz was always watching out for Richie, Ralph, and Potsie. Fonz was the anti-bully, at a time when bullying was becoming an epidemic. And when someone asked him about working with the late Robin Williams on Happy Days, he gushed for five minutes about Williams’s brilliance. The next person asked about Ron Howard and got this response: “Ron Howard looks like a loaf of Wonder Bread.” He didn’t say “Ayyyyyy” after that line, but it was implied.

The Fonz signs something for me. Whoa!

What else can I tell you about Supercon? Actually, I’ll let John Stover tell you in his words. John and I have been to a lot of conventions together, and he tends to give thoughtful feedback on things.

Me: Tell me about a couple of the panels you attended.

John: Okay. I attended a tap dance show which was based on video games such as The Legend of Zelda. Link was the lead, and there were about 6-7 other tap dancers.

Me: Were they children performers?

John: No, I’d say late teens or early 20s. It was set to music inspired by video games. I watched about 15 minutes of the hour and decided that was enough. Then I went to watch a short film which was part of the short film festival. It was okay. You know how those are. Some of them are good, some are mediocre.

Me: The one I watched with you, Attack of the Killer Donuts, was worse than mediocre.

John: Cheesiness.

Me: Thirty minutes of my life I won’t get back.

John: I stuck my head into one session that had something to do with light saber technology [actual title: The Lightsaber Combat Global Movement and How to Participate]. That was a little over my head.

Me: It turned up the nerd factor. That’s like the people who teach themselves to speak Klingon or Elvish. They are immersed.

John: Yes. That is one reason why I liked this convention more than any of the others we’ve attended. I like the breakout sessions. Those to me give it a more local feel. They are organized by local fans, and I feel like there is more enthusiasm and more energy in the convention when that happens.

Me: As opposed to, say, Wizard World conventions, which are more commercial.

John: Yes. This is not a bunch of experts. It’s local fans volunteering their time for the thing they love.

Me: So you would recommend Florida Supercon?

John: Yes!

Me: What does someone need to know before coming here?

John: Don’t be a fuddy-duddy. At least buy a nerd-related T-shirt at Target or something. We made that mistake for the first few years. I was looking this weekend at all the people not dressed up or even wearing a T-shirt, and I thought, get some enthusiasm. I would also recommend wearing comfortable shoes. But that’s what I liked about the panels. Whenever you get tired of walking, just find one that interests you or that you want to learn about.

Me: I liked the eating choices. Often, in conventions held in a convention center, there is only one restaurant, the convention center snack bar. This one had several food courts with Papa John’s Pizza, a Chinese place, a taco place, a French place, gyros, barbecue. There were lots of options for dining—all overpriced but lots of options.

John: The biggest food court could have had more tables, though. Did you see that?

Me: Yeah. It had a huge open floor with nothing on it where they could have put in more tables.

John: I liked how, at the photo op area, there was a schedule of all the photo ops for each day with prices. There was a big screen monitor with a spreadsheet listing them all. Too often, it is hard to know when the photo ops are scheduled and how much they cost. It might be printed in the program, but then you have to dig that out and flip through it. Here, the information was right up on the screen, so I appreciated the organization.

The whole convention was well organized, in fact. I saw few signs rescheduling things, and as far as I know, only three guests cancelled: Jerry Lawler, Karl Urban, and Arthur Darvill. I liked the extended dealer room hours: until 8:00pm on Friday and Saturday. And the cosplays were among the best I’ve seen. I guess my only disappointment was the schedule on the web site, which was not a single printable sheet. Each day had its own web site page. There was a convention app, but my antediluvian Android is not app-friendly, meaning I had to rely on the web site—not good for a place where 50,000+ were soaking up the Wi-Fi.

I agree with John: Florida Supercon is terrific, well-organized and fun. Despite its size, it is not unwieldy. We’ve all attended conventions that were too much for their staff, but this is not one of them. Check out the pix below for more fun!

I see the Scarecrow, but I don’t think either of the other two is Mrs. King.

The site of wonderful cosplayers fills me with determination.

Now that’s a good idea: homemade wings to fly to the front of autograph lines.

I see Link, so I guess that means he isn’t missing.

You, robot.

John and Lady Deadpool sittin’ in a tree, K-I-L-L-I-N-G.

Springfield awaits!

If I leave John alone too long, he ends up with some unsavory characters.

Greg Capullo signs a book for me.

Why is no one in this guy’s autograph line?

Cool tats, bro.

Best. Cosplay. Ever. The frame is PVC pipe, the wheels are spray foam, and the seat is an overturned mop bucket with wheels on it.

Mick Foley, legendary professional wrestler, multi-time best-selling author, and stand-up comic/spoken word performer, has just been announced as a special guest for FLORIDA SUPERCON July 1-4, 2016 at The Miami Beach Convention Center www.floridasupercon.com

Mick Foley has wrestled under his real name and various personas, including Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love, also known as the Three Faces of Foley. Foley is a four-time world champion (three WWF Championships and one TNA World Heavyweight Championship), an 11-time world tag team champion (eight WWF Tag Team Championships, two ECW World Tag Team Championships, and one WCW World Tag Team Championship), a one-time TNA Legends Champion, and the inaugural WWF Hardcore Champion. Foley has published a total of ten books; four memoirs, four children’s books and two novels.

Diamond Dallas Page has just been announced as a special guest for FLORIDA SUPERCON July 1-4, 2016 at The Miami Beach Convention Center www.floridasupercon.com. DDP is a professional wrestler, fitness instructor, motivational speaker, creator of DDP YOGA, and actor. DDP wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), in a career that spanned two decades.

Florida Supercon is the LARGEST Comic Con in South Florida, and is a four day celebration of Comic Books, Anime, Animation, Video Games, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Pop Culture. Go to www.floridasupercon.com for tickets.

Attendees interested in seeing Kevin at Supercon need to purchase an additional ticket for this exclusive event. Ticket prices range from $5 to $40 per seat. CLICK HERE for tickets or go to https://register.growtix.com/e/florida_supercon_2015/482. Please note that fans who are interested in attending the live performance must have a Florida Supercon 2015 Ticket and also purchase an additional Ticket to “An Evening with Kevin Smith”.

Doors open at 7:00, Show starts at 7:30 on the main stage.

Ticket prices range from $5 for General Admission to $40 for premium seating. All attendees to this special event will receive a special “An Evening with Kevin Smith” attendance badge. Premium seating includes a pre-signed 8×10 photograph from Kevin Smith!

Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and John Beatty reunite for the first time in nearly 30 years to make a limited number of convention appearances together, as they celebrate the anniversary of the legendary Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars maxi-series. This will be a rare opportunity to meet, greet and get autographs from all three of the original creators of one of the most important publishing events in comic book history.

Prior to the official launch of the tour, artists Mike Zeck and John Beatty will make a stop together for a special pre-tour celebration at HEROESCON: June 19-21, 2015 at the Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find and HeroesCon owner Shelton Drum said “When I heard there was going to be a new Secret Wars series, I just knew I had to get Mike Zeck and John Beatty to do a variant cover for my show (pictured at right). Secret Wars #8 has always been one of my favorites, and I am in love with their new interpretation. Having them at HeroesCon is just icing on the cake“. Don’t miss the opportunity to get your copy of the 2015 SECRET WARS ISSUE #1 HEROESCON VARIANT, featuring penciller Mike Zeck, and inker John Beatty, who reunited to recreate their classic Secret Wars Issue #8 cover, replacing the original characters with their contemporary counterparts.

The formal tour begins when writer Jim Shooter, penciller Mike Zeck, and inker John Beatty reunite at FLORIDA SUPERCON: June 25-28, 2015 at The Miami Beach Convention Center, in Miami, Florida. Florida Supercon owner Mike Broder said “I’m thrilled to have Florida Supercon as the formal launch point for this reunion tour! Secret Wars was such a groundbreaking concept thirty years ago, and helped fundamentally change how comic books approach big events, marketing, licensing, etc.. Plus, it couldn’t be more relevant than today, just as the new Secret Wars series from Marvel Comics hits the shelves. It really is an honor and privilege to play host to these three legendary creators.”

The second stop will be KANSAS CITY COMIC CON: August 7-9, 2015 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Matt Driscoll, owner of the convention said of the tour “Secret Wars is a milestone that has influenced writers and artists ever since its publication in 1985. We are proud to have the creative team of Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and John Beatty join us at Kansas City Comic Con to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the most iconic series in Marvel history”

The tour will then continue at the CONNECTICUT COMICONN: August 14-16, 2015 at the Mohegan Sun Convention Center, Uncasville, Connecticut. Connecticut ComiConn producer Mitchell Hallock stated “Having all three of the Secret Wars creators with us … Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck and John Beatty … together at the Mohegan Sun this August for the con is a dream come true. I’m sure fans will come from miles around to say hello, shake their hands, get an autograph or three and say “thank you for making one of the greatest comic book stories ever!”

There are at least three additional tour stops planned, which will be announced shortly. More events may be added down the line as well. Please visit the creators own websites www.mikezeck.com or www.johnbeattyart.com for additional shows at which they will appear.

Mike Zeck, legendary Bronze Age penciler and creator of Spider-Man’s black costume, said of the tour … “We’re putting the band back together!” Looking forward to this reunion with Jim Shooter and John Beatty to celebrate the original Secret Wars series and hail the arrival of the new Secret Wars. It’s been very gratifying to see our original series maintain its popularity and remain in print for the past 30 years. A rare success! Hope to see you at one of our dates”

John Beatty, inker extraordinaire, stated “The big picture of Secret Wars is the fans. Having fans tell me through the years over and over that this series either brought them back to reading comic books, or started them reading comic books. I never dreamed, or could have at the time, that Secret Wars with Mike Zeck and Jim Shooter would have kept its appeal for three decades. Being able to share in the history of this series with both Jim and Mike is a bit surrealistic in many ways. It’s a huge blessing that we are still able to get together 30 years later and show our appreciation for the fans who made the series the success it has been and hopefully will continue to be. Thank you all!”

Jim Shooter, legendary writer, artist, editor, and publisher said of the tour “Secret Wars turned out to be a watershed in the history of the medium. I’m glad I was part of it and I am very, very happy to get together again with brilliant artists Mike Zeck and John Beatty.”

Don’t miss this once in 30 years opportunity to get your comics signed by all of the creators who made it happen so many years ago … Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and John Beatty.

Billy Dee Williams “Lando Calrissian” in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and numerous Star Wars video games has just been announced as a guest for FLORIDA SUPERCON at The Miami Beach Convention Center, June 25-28, 2015. www.floridasupercon.com

Billy Dee Williams is also known for acting in the movies Brian’s Song, Lady Sings the Blues, and for playing Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman.

FRANK QUITELY, artist of All-Star Superman, Batman and Robin, Jupiter’s Legacy, New X-Men, We3, JLA: Earth 2, Flex Mentallo, and The Authority is the latest superstar announced as a guest for FLORIDA SUPERCON at The Miami Beach Convention Center, June 25-28, 2015.www.floridasupercon.com. Frank Quitely will be appearing at Florida Supercon on Saturday and Sunday.

Ming-Na Wen, star of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Melinda May), Mulan, Street Fighter (Chun-Li), Stargate Universe (Camile Wray), and ER (Dr. Chen), has just been announced as a guest for FLORIDA SUPERCONat The Miami Beach Convention Center! She will be appearing Saturday, June 27, 2015 –www.floridasupercon.com